The governor of Japan's Kagoshima prefecture has given his approval for the restart of the Sendai nuclear power plant. The plant looks set to resume operation early next year, having now received all the necessary local consents for this.

A year-long operation to remove all the used fuel assemblies from the storage pool at the damaged Fukushima Daiichi unit 4 has been successfully completed. Some fresh fuel remains in the pool, but this should be removed by the end of the year.

Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) has awarded US-based waste management specialist Kurion a JPY 1 billion ($10 million) grant to demonstrate technology to remove tritium from contaminated water for possible deployment at Fukushima.

The long-delayed Rokkasho reprocessing plant, due to be completed last month, will now not begin operating until early 2016, Japan Nuclear Fuel Limited has announced.

Tokyo Electric Power Company has begun removing the panels of the temporary cover over the damaged reactor building of unit 1 at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.

The municipal government of the Japanese town of Satsumasendai has given its approval for the restart of the nearby Sendai nuclear power plant. Approval is still required from the regulator, as well as the prefectural and national governments before the plant can begin operating again.

The municipal government of the Japanese town of Satsumasendai has given its approval for the restart of the nearby Sendai nuclear power plant. Approval is still required from the regulator, as well as the prefectural and national governments before the plant can begin operating again.

Japan's first reactor restart is moving to the end of the regulatory phase. Kyushu Electric Power Company has now submitted all the documentation to restart Sendai units 1 and 2 and a final decision lies with the Nuclear Regulation Authority.

Testing of a new high-performance water decontamination system has started at the Fukushima Daiichi plant. When in full operation, the new system should increase water treatment capacity while significantly reducing the volume of waste generated.

A nuclear risk research centre has been established in Japan to carry out research and development necessary for utilities to improve safety on their own initiative.

A formal cooperation agreement has been signed between Tokyo Electric Power Company (Tepco) and the UK's Sellafield Ltd. It follows the earlier signing of an initial cooperation statement between the two companies.

The Japan Atomic Energy Agency will shut its reprocessing plant in Tokai, reportedly due to the costs of modifications required under post-Fukushima safety regulations.